Front tracking simulations of ion deposition and resputtering

This paper describes surface evolution formulated in terms of a Hamilton-Ja cobi equation and a solution algorithm based on a three-dimensional front t racking algorithm. Our method achieves sharp resolution in the evolution of surface edges and corners. This study is motivated by semiconductor chip evolution during deposition a nd resputtering processes. For this reason, we discuss here the effects of diffuse rescattering on surface features. We illustrate some of the three-dimensional capabilities of the front track ing algorithm. We also present a validation study by display of two-dimensi onal cross sections of three-dimensional simulations of a finite-length tre nch. The cross sections correspond to two-dimensional simulations of S. Ham aguchi and S. M. Rossnagel [J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B, 13 (1995), pp. 183-191 ].